A Helping Hand
by PuckRox
Summary: One rainy night, Richard's sister shows up on the Hoover's front step, drenched and dumped. Frank tries to help her get through the rough time, but what happens if he just makes things worse? Rated M for swearing. And yes, I know that the title and summar


Woot woot, I'm going to have the third Little Miss Sunshine fic up on HUZZAH!

Special thanks to Havah for reading it over and giving me ideas (that I sort of swipped from her fic... :-D )

Disclaimer: I don't own this fic or Dwayne's future girlfriend.

READ AND REVIEW!

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The rain fell silently on the cool July night. Rain was not a common thing during the summer time for the people of Albuquerque, but every now and then there was an exception.  
Each drop lightly fell on the window pain, barely making a sound. Every touch of the droplets left a quiet _'tap, tap, tap' _noise.  
Frank Gilbert stared out the window at the falling rain, constantly lost in thought. Thoughts of how life couldn't get any worse. Thoughts on how he was now sharing a room with a teenager because he couldn't be trusted in a room alone or he just might kill himself. Thoughts on how his life was like the rain: the harder his life got, the harder it'd pour, and the messier it'd become.  
As he watched the drizzle become harder and listened to the light _'tap, tap'_ sound become _'thud, thud, thud'_, he looked over from his cot to Dwayne. His nephew too seemed to be caught up in his own thoughts as he lay on his bed.  
"What're you thinking about?" Frank asked abruptly.  
Without even looking over at his uncle, he answered, "Nothing."  
Frank didn't want to go back to his depressed thoughts, so he tried to carry out the conversation.   
"You know, thoughts can take you anywhere you long to be."  
This was followed by no response.  
That didn't quite surprise Frank. Even though Dwayne was over his vow of silence and was speaking more, he still wouldn't say much and he did have his moments where he'd resort back to his notepad and pen. He only would write instead of speak when something was really wrong, and that seemed to be more often than usual. But Frank never questioned Dwayne's emotions. He knew Dwayne was going through a pretty rough time, what with the whole colorblind fiasco. Frank figured he'd really want to talk about it when he said he wanted to talk about it. Till then it seemed like a wise choice to give Dwayne his much needed and desired space.  
Frank had just begun to go back to his depressing thoughts of suicide, when suddenly a voice called for him and Dwayne.  
"Guys! Dinner!"  
Frank looked back again at Dwayne.  
"That's your mom," he said, standing up. "I suppose we should get out there and eat."  
After a slight pause, Dwayne got off his bed. "What does it fucking matter?" he asked.  
Before Frank had a chance to respond Dwayne had left the room. Frank pondered about his nephew for a moment. The family he was now being made to stay with was certainly... interesting. No, not just interesting. Odd. And the oddest one out of the whole group of them had to be Dwayne. Due to his lack of silence and emotion, he was a very hard person to read. The most emotion Frank ever saw him show as when he found out he was colorblind. He let out all of this pent-up rage on his family, yelling at them and telling them how much he hated them. The only family member Frank saw Dwayne give any real emotion to was his little sister, Olive. But that was no surprise. Everyone seemed to like Olive.   
Shaking his head, Frank exited the boy's room. Walking down the hall, he entered the dining room and took his usual seat. Dwayne was helping his mom, and Frank's sister, set the table for dinner. Frank sometimes wondered how Sheryl put up with it all. She had two kids, one who thought she could win Little Miss Sunshine beauty pageants by strip teasing, and the other who didn't speak for nine months and when he spoke again most of his first words were "fuck." Not to mention how she now had to handle her depressed, suicidal, homosexual brother. Frank did feel bad for having to lay even more stress on his younger sister. Then there was her marriage...  
Frank knew that Richard and her were seeing a marital counselor, even though they hadn't told him. You didn't have to be a rocket scientist to see that one coming. Richard was constantly telling his kids to be winners, where as Sheryl just wanted them to be normal and not think of themselves as being judged. True, after the whole road trip Richard had become slightly better, but not by much. They still argued endlessly about their money problems, their family problems, and whatever else was troubling them. Frank had suggested to Sheryl that the two took a little time apart, but she had replied, "No, I could never do that to the kids. Remember when mom and dad told us they were taking some time apart for a week? A week turned into a month. A month turned into a year. We never saw Dad again. I could never do that to Olive and Dwayne." And Frank knew she was right.  
After Dwayne finished setting the table he sat himself down next to Frank. Soon Richard entered and sat on the other side of Frank. Lastly, Sheryl came out of the kitchen, dinner in hand. Once Dwayne saw what they were having he couldn't help himself.  
"Chicken? Why does it always have to be fucking chicken?"  
At most times Sheryl would argue with her son about not swearing, but hearing that statement she kept her mouth shut.  
It had only been five days since they lost Richard's father. Though his death should have been no surprise, it still caught the family off guard. Even heroin sniffing grandfathers can be loved and greatly missed. Their grandpa's presence was quite obviously gone and very much needed.   
The family began eating in silence, not really sure on what to say. Sheryl decided to ask a safe question.  
"Dwayne, have you received any letters from Olive yet?"  
He shook his head.   
"Well she just got to summer camp yesterday. I'm sure once she settles in she'll write in no time," Frank stated.  
More silence followed.  
"So Frank... how long are you going to mooch off us-?"  
"Richard!"  
"Stay! I meant stay with us."  
Sheryl shot him an angry glare. "You know he can't live by himself right now. He still is in a very depressed stage!"  
"Well actually-"  
"Oh really? He doesn't look all that depressed!"  
"Could I just say-"  
"Of course he is! What? Do you **want** to kill himself!"  
"I-"  
"I never said that!"  
"Can I please speak for myself!"  
Sheryl and Richard both finally looked over at Frank.  
"...Thank you," Frank said. "But I think I can move out pretty soon."   
"Uh uh, no, not yet. I want to take you to see the doctor first," his sister quickly objected.  
"Oh come on Sheryl-"  
"I said no!"  
Frank knew she had put her foot down and it was final, so it was useless to argue.  
Even more silence.  
"So Dwayne, what'd you do today?" Sheryl asked her son.  
"Got a girlfriend."  
All eyes were suddenly on Dwayne.  
"You did? That's great!" Richard began. "Isn't that great, Sheryl?"  
"Well, I guess, but didn't we agree no dating until 17?"  
"Come on Sheryl, the boy's 15 years old. Besides, you know high school romances, they'll last probably three weeks tops and then break up."   
"I suppose..." Sheryl said slowly. "But I want you to give him the talk."  
It was harder to say which expression was more priceless: the look of utter shock on Richard's face or the look of sheer horror on Dwayne's.  
"What?"  
"You know, the talk!"  
Richard looked over at Dwayne.  
"Sheryl, he's 15 years old! I'm pretty sure he knows everything he needs to know."  
"But we can't be too sure."  
"That's why the Lord created TV, so parents wouldn't have to give this awkward talk to their children! Besides, he's not even my kid, **you** should give him the talk!"  
While Richard and Sheryl bickered on, Frank noticed Dwayne scribble something on his notepad. When finished, he held it up for Frank to read.  
_'Kill me now.'_  
Frank chuckled and was about to respond when the door bell rang.   
"I'll get it," Sheryl said, no longer able to argue with her husband anymore.  
She withdrew herself form the table and paced over to the front door. Once she reached it, she opened it half heartedly.  
She took a step back, her mouth fell open.  
"Ellen?"   
On her front step stood her short, drenched sister-in-law. 


End file.
